


pink and black

by sourcheeks



Category: All Elite Wrestling, Professional Wrestling
Genre: Gen, Magical Girls, Skateboarding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 04:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sourcheeks/pseuds/sourcheeks
Summary: “Soon you’ll win,” Riho said, with an unshakeable certainty that Darby envied. “And the champions should be friends, yes?”“Shouldn’t you be hanging out with Jericho, then?”
Relationships: Darby Allin & Riho (Professional Wrestling)
Kudos: 50





	pink and black

Darby was familiar with Riho, obviously. A championship made you hard to ignore. She was a little bit of sugar, spice, and everything nice for Darby’s taste, but her skill was undeniable, especially relative to her size. 

Riho had lots of friends, Darby knew. She was friends with Sakura, and Omega, and Nakazawa, and she probably knew most of the joshi talent at least in the way most wrestlers who operated in the same areas knew each other. Basically, there were a lot of people for Riho to sit with, and there was no reason for her to be joining Darby in catering. 

“Can I help you?” Darby gave her a curious look. 

Riho beamed at him. “I saw your match! Against Jericho. It was very good!”

Darby made a face. “I lost.” Jericho had cheated, that little bastard, but Darby had still lost. Stupid Jericho and his stupid Inner Circle. Darby didn’t notice how hard he was stabbing at his food until he gouged a hole in his styrofoam plate, snapping a tine off his plastic fork and getting spaghetti sauce on his sleeve. He put the broken utensil down, embarrassed. 

“You lost,” Riho ceded, putting her small hands over his. “But you did very well! And he couldn’t beat you on his own, even with your hands behind your back.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” She was. Darby had been so close, even with his hands taped behind his back. That had to count for something. 

“Soon you’ll win,” Riho said, with an unshakeable certainty that Darby envied. “And the champions should be friends, yes?”

“Shouldn’t you be hanging out with Jericho, then?”

Riho made a face, and Darby had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh. Her eyes lit up at the choked off noise. “I have standards.”

“Well, I’m glad I meet your exacting standards.” Darby tried to finish his spaghetti with his broken fork. 

“Of course! You impress me.” Riho nodded. She leaned in and lowered her voice. “And Kenny-chan likes you,” she whispered conspiratorially. “And I trust his judgement.”

That was a surprise. Darby didn’t know why Kenny Omega would even notice him. He probably had plenty on his plate otherwise. Then, he didn’t know why Riho was paying attention to him either. She must have plenty on her mind. He knew she was busy with the title. 

Maybe his loss had stirred up a bigger fuss than he thought. 

“Well, thanks… that means a lot, actually.” Darby stood to throw away his broken plate. 

“Of course!” Riho beamed and hopped up with him. Darby really didn’t know why she was still following him. Did she want something? It was stressing him out. Janela was winking at him from across the room. Oh, great, that would be a fun web for Darby to untangle later on. 

“There’s a skate park in town that’s supposed to be really cool,” Darby began slowly, trying not to seem like he was brushing her off. Which, he really wasn’t. Darby just got easily overwhelmed by socialization. “I was gonna go there later…”

“Oh! Can I come?” Riho grinned. “I want to learn!” 

“How to skate?” Darby asked, surprised. 

“Yes! It looks fun when you do it.” 

“I guess you could come,” Darby ceded, baffled. 

Riho smiled and hugged him. Darby patted her back awkwardly. This was so weird. 

* * *

Riho looked at the board Darby had given her like it was an animal she had never seen before. It was almost as big as her. Darby reflected that it would probably be better for her to get a kid’s board, but he didn’t say that, because he didn’t want to embarrass her. 

“What do I do?” she asked with bright, wide eyes, practically jumping in place. 

“Wellm first you put on this.” Darby placed a helmet on her head, having to adjust it significantly to her head. She would need a smaller helmet too. “This stuff is Joey’s but he won’t mind you borrowing it.” Darby had to practically hold Joey down to get the helmet on him anyways. 

“Okay!” Riho buckled the helmet in place and gave him a big thumbs up. 

Darby put on his own helmet, walking with her into the park. “Have you ever skated before?”

Riho shook her head. “No!”

Darby could work with that. “Put your board down and stand on it.” 

Riho followed his instructions. She was a faster learner than Joey, pushing off with one foot immediately. She was a little wobbly, but she didn’t fall. Thank god. Darby didn’t want to explain to his bosses why their women’s champion had a broken tailbone. 

Riho wasn’t a savant or anything, but she was pretty good. Darby had her steady on the board and even into one of the shallower bowls after only a few hours. She was impressive. By the time the skate park closed Riho was still beaming brightly, in spite of her badly skinned elbow.

“That looks nasty,” Darby noted as they put their boards in the trunk, grabbing her arm. “You should let me patch it up. I have a first aid kit at my apartment.”

“You’re inviting me to your apartment.”

Darby blushed. “Well. Yeah, I guess I am.”

Riho giggled. “Okay!” She got into Darby’s front seat, buckling herself in.

* * *

“Your apartment is sad,” Riho said when Darby let her in. 

“Um. I guess it is a little,” Darby replied, caught off guard. “I mean, the rent is cheap, I’ve lived here for a while-”

“No, no.” Riho waved him off. “It’s sad. It looks like no one lives here.”

Darby guessed he could decorate more. He wasn’t sure if he was being criticized right now. “Um… why don’t you just go into the living room? Pick something to watch or something, I’m gonna go get the first aid kit.” 

Darby went to the bathroom, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down and getting the first aid kit out of the medicine cabinet. Riho was curled up on his couch watching an anime that he didn’t recognize. 

“What’s this?” Darby grabbed her arm, soaking a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide and dabbing it on her skinned elbow. Riho winced, but didn’t pull away. 

“Madoka Magica.” 

“Right, you like all that magical girl stuff.” Darby stuck a gauze pad over her elbow. “Are you staying for dinner? I, uh, don’t have much in the house, but we could order pizza…” 

Riho smiled at him. “Okay!”

Darby had trouble following the anime, but Riho seemed more than happy to explain it to him, gesturing wildly with a pizza crust while she debated the merits of trying to make the magical girl genre more adult. Darby didn’t understand it, but he was glad she was having fun. 

Riho slept on his couch, curled under a spare blanket. She made Darby breakfast in the morning, ignoring his protests. Her eggs were actually pretty amazing. He quickly corrected a few texts from Joey about his “new girlfriend,” Riho reading over his shoulder and giggling. Maybe, Darby reflected, this whole ‘friends’ thing wasn’t so bad. 

* * *

Maybe this was a bad idea. Darby didn’t even know if Riho actually liked him, or if the other night had just been humoring him because he seemed sad. He had texted her that he would be waiting after the show. He was leaning against his car, waiting anxiously. Riho was probably busy celebrating with her real friends. He was legitimately surprised when she approached him in the parking lot. 

“Darby!” Riho greeted him with a hug. Darby was going to have to get used to that. 

“Hey, champ. I watched your match.”

“I saw you!” She pulled back, beaming. 

“I got you a gift, to celebrate.” Darby popped his trunk. “Close your eyes.”

Riho giggled and squeezed her eyes shut. Darby took out the sparkly pink penny board from his trunk, holding it out to Riho. 

“Okay, open your eyes.”

Riho opened her eyes and gasped, grasping the board. “For me?”

“Got you a helmet, too.” Darby cracked a small smile. “I had a lot of fun with you at the skatepark the other day, and… you know, I could get used to the whole friends thing.”

“Yes!” Riho hugged him again. “We’re friends!”

Darby rubbed her back. “Friends,” he repeated. 

Riho pulled back, grinning broadly. “And soon, both champions!”

“Champions.” Darby laughed. “Well, champion. You want to go celebrate?”

Riho placed her penny board carefully back into Darby’s trunk. “Let’s celebrate!”


End file.
